Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan who unveiled the trailer of his upcoming film Zero on the occasion of his birthday on Friday, 2 November, said that he was touched by the gesture of Salman Khan doing a cameo in the film.

During the trailer launch of the film when he was asked about how Salman came on board, Shah Rukh told the media: “Anand (L. Rai, Director) has spoken to Katrina (Kaif) regarding this film quite sometimes ago and that time Salman also heard the story.”

“Then Salman called and said that there was this story and hear it. The coincidence is that, when finally, I said yes to the film, after that he said that I will be a part of this film for sure, by doing a song. That was very dignified and loving of him.”

The film also features Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. It is interesting to observe that after Yash Chopra’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan this trio is coming together all over again to execute Rai’s vision.

Talking about her journey Anushka said: “This year I am completing 10 years in Bollywood. I made my debut with Shah Rukh and now after 10 years, in 2018 I am doing another film with him, it is so special and this is how life has come in a full circle.”

In the film Shah Rukh is playing a character of a dwarf and Anushka and Katrina are playing a physically challenged person and an actress respectively.

After Priyanka Chopra walked out of Salman Khan’s Bharat owing to personal reasons, DNA has reported that Katrina Kaif, who was the makers’ original choice, has joined the cast. A source told the publication that producers Atul and Alvira Agnihotri share a warm relationship with Kaif and when Chopra’s departure from the film was announced, they called Kaif and sorted out her dates. Kaif, who will play the female lead opposite Khan, is expected to join the team in September.

DNA also found that Jackie Shroff, who has previously played on-screen dad to Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra in Brothers, will star as Khan’s father. “It’s essentially a beautiful story of a father and son, so when Jackie was offered the film, he liked the script and gave his nod.” The team is reportedly currently shooting in Mumbai and Shroff will join the crew around the end of September.

However, there has not been an official announcement regarding this development. While Priyanka has opted out of the Salman Khan starrer, she is also shooting for Shonali Bose’s The Sky is Pink alongside Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim.

Bharat also has Tabu, Disha Patani, Sunil Grover in pivotal roles. It is a remake of the 2014 Korean film, Ode to My Father and will release in cinemas on Eid 2019.

Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s quirky character Shakti Kumaarr from his forthcoming movie Secret Superstar has been inspired by Jeetendra and Anil Kapoor.

Aamir said in a statement: “One of the secrets from Secret Superstar is that in this film, I have used some lines that film actors usually use in their personal life and whenever I meet them. I tend to remember some lines from it, and I have used those lines while playing my character in the film.

“For example, when I met Jeetuji (Jeetendra) for the very first time, I found him as a very humorous person. He had come to visit Nasir (filmmaker Nasir Hussain) sahab once and I was sitting with them that time. I was an assistant to Nasir sahab then. Jeetuji said, ‘Nasir sahab, I have been offered a film which has a double role’. Jeetuji laughed and said I can’t do one role properly and I have been offered two roles.

“Further, he said that it’s perfectly fine, I’ll do it well and said ‘Buck up India’… The way he said ‘Buck Up India’, I found it so charming that time that it remained in my mind, and now also if we meet somewhere, he says, ‘Son, you have a release now… Buck Up India! It will do very good’. The way Jeetuji uses that phrase ‘Buck up India’ is something I like and I have used that in Secret Superstar.”

What about Anil?

“One thing about Anil Kapoor I have noticed is that whenever he is done talking on call, he doesn’t say bye once, he says bye about 15-20 times on call. So while speaking with him on call when I say, ‘Anil, see you bye’, he says ‘Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye’ in series. My character uses this trait also.”

Secret Superstar is a film which brings out the inner superstar of a teenage girl who is dreaming to become a singer and how she fulfils her dreams by keeping her identity hidden.

Shah Rukh Khan’s recent visit to check on the health of the 94-year old Dilip Kumar, upon the latter’s return after spending a few days in the hospital for some kidney related problem, brought to mind the sweet bond that the two have shared over the years.

The thespian and his wife, Saira Banu, have publicly expressed their love for Shah Rukh Khan on numerous occasions and in fact, have even said that SRK is the child that they would have loved to have.

Besides having a few things in common with the younger Khan — including the same number of Filmfare awards for the Best Actor, eight to be exact, and both playing Devdas at some point in their careers — Dilip sahab’s fondness for Shah Rukh Khan also mirrors the manner in which he has interacted with some of the superstars who followed him.

Dilip Kumar’s influence on Indian cinema is peerless and this influence extends beyond acting prowess. It was Dilip Kumar’s persona that inspired more than a few generation of actors such as Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan, and almost every single one of them famously modelled certain aspects of their craft on Dilip Kumar.

In Manoj Kumar’s case, he even took his screen name ‘Manoj’ after a character that Dilip Kumar portrayed in one of his films, Shabnam (1949). Dharmendra often mentions that even though he came to (then) Bombay to try his hand at acting, meeting Dilip Kumar was perhaps a bigger draw for him. During the shooting of one of his initial films in the late 1950s, Dharmendra met Dilip Kumar’s sister, and thanks to her ended up spending an evening at Dilip Kumar’s residence. Late in the night when Dharam ji was leaving, Dilip Kumar gave him a sweater as it had been raining, and to this day, the sweater is a prized possession for the former.

Later the emergence of Rajesh Khanna as the new superstar coincided with the period where Dilip Kumar had considerably reduced his output, but even then the public interaction between Dilip Kumar and other leading men, such as Khanna and later Amitabh Bachchan, was the same. It’s not just Hindi films where Dilip Kumar’s impact, both as an actor and an elder, was felt. His friendship with the iconic Sivaji Ganesan, and later his influence on a Kamal Haasan, is also well documented.

In his open letter on Kangana Ranaut and nepotism, Saif Ali Khan mentioned how he is not on social media because it comes across as ‘fake’. Now, Ranaut has responded with an open letter of her own. Thus, open letters seem to be the tweet equivalent of those who have chosen to distance themselves from social media.

In her open letter, Ranaut clarifies that her response to Saif’s letter should not be viewed as a clash of individuals but as a healthy exchange of ideas. Ranaut largely countered Saif on three arguments. Firstly, she explained how the nepotism is not a personal issue between both of them and in fact, addresses a much larger issue that concerns society as a whole. Therefore, she argued that Saif did owe an explanation to the public, and not just a personal apology to Ranaut.

“Nepotism is a practice where people tend to act upon temperamental human emotions, rather than intellectual tendencies. Businesses that are run by human emotions and not by great value-systems, might gain superficial profits. However, they cannot be truly productive and tap into the true potential of a nation of more than 1.3 billion people,” she said in her open letter.

Secondly, she contested Saif’s claim about genetics playing a role in children of film personalities inheriting their talents. She argued that artistic skills, hard-work, experience, concentration spans, enthusiasm, eagerness, discipline and love, which are prerequisites of making it large in the film industry, can not be inherited.

“If your point was true, I would be a farmer back home. I wonder which gene from my gene-pool gave me the keenness to observe my environment, and the dedication to interpret and pursue my interests,” she said, in her open letter.

She even challenged Saif’s allegation on the media for being a part of the vicious cycle of nepotism. She said that nepotism is a part of the human nature, not a crime. While she said there is no point in getting defensive about one’s choice, she also clarified that nepotism is not the way to go forward.

“In my opinion, that is an extremely pessimistic attitude for a Third World country, where many people don’t have access to food, shelter, clothing, and education. The world is not an ideal place, and it might never be. That is why we have the industry of arts. In a way, we are the flag-bearers of hope,” she signed off.

Shah Rukh Khan has proved yet again, his penchant for making a solid opening at the box office with his latest release Raees.

Raees, directed by Rahul Dholakia and produced by Excel Entertainment and Red Chillies, was expected to take in anything between Rs 17-19 crores in box office collections when it opened on Wednesday, 25 January 2017.

The predictions seemed in line with SRK’s previous releases — Fan (which brought in Rs 19 crores on opening day) and Dilwale (which had a Rs 21 crore opening).

As per early reports, which have taken into consideration the screen count (approximately 2,600) and occupancy levels (reported to be around 60 percent through the day), the Day 1 box office collection has been estimated at Rs 21 crore.

Trade observer Ramesh Bala tweeted out the early figures: “Looking at the early day one numbers, Raees seems to have outdone Kaabil by a huge margin at the box office: Raees — Rs 21 crore; Kaabil — Rs 7.5 crore.

1 figures for Raees at Rs. 20.5 crore, stating: “Considering the fact that Wednesday was a regular working day with the only advantage being the big holiday on Thursday (Republic Day), due to which evening and night shows were better than normal, Raees has clearly taken a very positive start at the box office.”

While official figures are still awaited, it is Day 2 figures for both Raees and Kaabil that will be keenly watched. It remains to be seen how much the public holiday will benefit the business of both films.

Bikaner: Scores of activists from the Bishnoi community have protested against the acquittal of Bollywood actor Salman Khan by the Rajasthan High Court in two cases related to poaching of Chinkaras in Jodhpur in 1998.

Bishnoi community members, who are known for their love of wild animals especially chinkaras and deers, held protests and burnt posters of the actor yesterday.

“We protested against the acquittal of Salman Khan in the cases and burnt his posters,” Vijay Delu, district president of Akhil Bhartiya Jeev Raksha Vishnoi Mahasabha said.

Bab Lal Jaju of animal welfare organization ‘People for Animals’ said the decision of the high court has disappointed animal lovers.

“Yesterday was a black day for animal lovers. We are disappointed and urge the state government to challenge the order in the Supreme court,” Jaju said on Tuesday.

The court had held that the pellets recovered from the Chinkaras were not fired from Khan’s licensed gun.

There’s a dialogue in the much-awaited trailer of Salman Khan’s next film, Sultan, which goes something like this, “Asli pehlwaan ki pehchaan akhade mein nahin, zindagi mein hai (a fighter’s real identity is not found in the ring, but in life).”

This can be aptly said about Salman Khan’s life. In contrast to his larger-than-life, on-screen image is his personal life — full of controversies. Balancing between the two can be quite the fight. Ever since his legal battles have grabbed the country’s collective attention, we have seen Salman try to give us on-screen characters that are largely white in the black/white scale.

However, after 25 years in the industry, it was finally with Bajrangi Bhaijaan that we saw something in Salman that we probably would not associate with him before: hard work. We saw a star who believed in his character and played it to a good degree of its potential.

In Yash Raj Films’ Sultan, Salman’s hardwork can be amply seen in the training he must have undergone to develop and maintain an impressive physique through the shooting of the film.

But that is Salman’s forte. What really takes you by surprise in the trailer is his Haryanvi accent. It’s not completely authentic, by any means, but it surprisingly works. It’s not the kind of accent you hear in a metro in Gurgaon, but it’s an accent that will remind you of a Haryanvi kushti player.

The trailer itself is quite telling of the sports drama that Sultan is going to be. It’s entertaining in places and holds your attention enough to let the goofy bits pass by.

Anushka Sharma, who has been breaking out of her bubbly girl phase with movies like Bombay Velvet and NH10, seems like a fitting co-actor for Salman. Her character of Aarfa, a female wrestler, is not the typical Hindi film heroine by a mile, but she retains the spark we have grown to love in her.

She’s our second favourite aspect about the Sultan trailer, after Salman’s accent. We love it because it finally shows us that he’s taking his movies seriously.

The crash of 2015 won’t avert the clash of 2016. It seems Shah Rukh Khan has learnt no lessons from his demoniacal debacle last Christmas when he chose to release Dilwale with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani against all advice, including the Dilwale director Rohit Shetty’s apparent imploration against the head-on collision.

You’d think a wise man and a super entrepreneur like Shah Rukh Khan would have learnt his lesson. No such luck. Despite reports to the contrary SRK will go ahead with another boxoffice clash in 2016. This time he takes on an even more formidable adversary.

Meanwhile, Salman Khan’s makeover as at wrestler in Sultan already has the Salmaniacs drooling in anticipation.

And the date is Eid, which is Salman’s slot when the entire Muslim and Hindu population of India heads to the theatres to watch a his film. Into this insulated paradisaical passage that joins Salman to his fans, enters the other Khan superstar with a film that takes him away from his lover-boy image.

I wonder what undisclosed reckless impulses has prompted Shah Rukh to take on Salman on the latter’s home territory! Could it be that stubborn defiant streak that we saw in him when he was told to apologize for his comments on Tolerant/Intolerant India? Shah Rukh never turns back even when the road ahead is strewn with broken glass.

Why Eid for Raees? Diwali is when audiences welcome Shah Rukh Khan with open arms and emptied-out pockets. Give them anything for Diwali, and his fans will lap it up. But during Eid they look for Bhai on the silver screen as the moon peeps out of the clouds. It’s like offering gujiyas for Eid and saiwaiyyan for Diwali. The palate is incongruous.

In the film, Shah Rukh plays Raees Alam, a hooch don in prohibition-ridden Gujarat in the 1980s. From its theme to the choice of leading lady (Pakistan’s Mahira Khan) everything in Raees spells ‘controversy.’

It most certainly seems like a battle of unequals. So what makes Shah Rukh Khan so sure he can pull this off? Could ‘King’ Khan be over-estimating his own power at the box-office and underestimating Salman’s hold over the Eid slot? Or is Shah Rukh just cockily confident of his own space in spite of the underperformance of Dilwale last Christmas?

The last time and only time that Shah Rukh Khan took on Salman at the box-office was in 2006 when on October 20 Shah Rukh’s Don released alongside Salman’s Jann-e-Mann.

Jaan-e-Mann bombed, and Don was a blockbuster. To this day Salman jokes how he urged his fans to watch his colleague’s Don, and they took him too seriously.

It would be interesting to see if the two Khan superstars promote one another’s films this Eid. Or would they drop their lately-assumed postures of bonhomie and get cut-throat in their competitiveness?

The Romanian beauty is on a roll in India!
Much has been said about Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s girlfriend Iulia Vantur. The Romanian television presenter has turned heads and raised eyebrows after getting caught time and again with Salman but has managed to fool the paparazzi in doing so.

However we have managed to get our hands on an eyewitness who tells us how Salman’s girlfriend sneaks into Galaxy apartments (where Salman resides) without anyone’s notice. “Iulia travels in a rickshaw to reach bhai’s apartment. This way she is hidden from the flashing cameras that follow Salman everywhere. Salman’s bodyguards are also kept at bay from her for the same reason. It is better this way for them to move in or around the city,” says the source.

Even after playing hide and seek with the media, the duo were caught red-handed a few days ago when Salman was spotted coming out of Varun Dhawan‘s Juhu home with a woman in the backseat of his car. And the woman was none other than Iulia. Well that’s something for a couple who is trying hard to keep their relationship under the wraps.

Now that Salman Khan is a free man after his many have started guessing the time of his marriage. While previously Sallu had a reason to rubbish the rumours, what will the actor do now when there’s no excuse?